My Best Albums of 2014 Will Definitely Be My Favorite Albums of 2014

In the years since I've graduated from being in the "18-25" demographic, I've realized more and more that I have no idea what constitutes the "best" as far as pop culture is concerned. I really don't. File that under, "I don't have time for ranking this crap." Because of this realization, I feel better putting together "favorites" lists, rather than "best" lists. There's less pressure doing it that way, anyhow.

I also prefer "favorites" to "best" because the older I get, the less I care about what I like versus what I "should" like. There are a handful of albums on my list this year, for example, that are probably not very good to most people; but I really like them. And I'm finding it harder to qualify exactly why I like a particular album/movie/book/etc.

This Favorite Albums of 2014 list, then, will not be ranked nor explained. With that being said, I have narrowed down my top 10 out of the group, which I put in bold.

My Favorite Albums of 2014

St. Vincent - "St. Vincent"
Interpol - "El Pintor"
Cloud Nothings - "Here And Nowhere Else"
Drive-By Truckers - "English Oceans"
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - "Give The People What They Want"
TV On The Radio - "Seeds"
First Aid Kit - "Stay Gold"
Sharon Van Etten - "Are We There"
Conor Oberst - "Upside Down Mountain"
Lydia Loveless - "Somewhere Else"
Roseanne Cash - "The River And The Thread"
Todd Terje - "It's Album Time"
EMA - "The Future's Void"
D'Angelo - "Black Messiah"
Hercules & Love Affair - "The Feast Of The Broken Heart"
Ex Hex - "Rips"
Damien Jurado - "Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Sun"
Jenny Lewis - "The Voyager"
The Hold Steady - "Teeth Dreams"
Eliza Shaddad - "Waters EP"
She Keeps Bees - "Eight Houses"
Elbow - "The Take Off And Landing Of Everything"
Liars - "Mess"
Marissa Nadler - "July"
Lykke Li - "I Never Learn"
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - "Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything"
Nicole Atkins - "Slow Phaser"
Baths - "Ocean Death"
Angel Olsen - "Burn Your Fire For No Witness"
Speedy Ortiz - "Real Hair"
My Brightest Diamond - "This Is My Hand"
Ryan Adams - "Ryan Adams"
Shellac - "Dude Incredible"
Beck - "Morning Phase"
Caribou - "Our Love"
Virgin Of The Birds - "Winter Seeds"
Aphex Twin - "Syro"
Courtney Barnett - "The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas"